Commissioners approve $25K for ABC Board

Published: Monday, April 1, 2013 at 7:41 p.m.

Last Modified: Monday, April 1, 2013 at 7:41 p.m.

Ten months after its formation, the Henderson County ABC Board finally got a budget Monday.

By a 4-1 vote, with Grady Hawkins dissenting, county commissioners approved transferring $25,000 from the county’s fund balance into three budgetary line items: $12,000 for ABC Board member expenses, $3,000 for “departmental supplies” and $10,000 for “professional services.”

Of the latter, ABC Board members plan to pay consultant Martin-McGill of Asheville $9,000 to conduct a market study, looking at what unincorporated areas of the county have unmet demand for liquor sales and where might be the best location for a sixth package store.

ABC Board Chairman Beau Waddell said the study should be complete within 90 days.

“This budget should have been established when your board was put in place,” said Commissioner Larry Young. “And it wasn’t, so we’re going to give you a budget amendment to get you through this part of the year. The first of July starts a new budget, so maybe the new budget might be $50,000.Who knows? We’ve got to let y’all decide what budget you need in the future.”

Waddell said if the study comes back that no unincorporated area of the county will support a new ABC store, “I expect our budget come July 1 would be zero. And it should be. I’m a taxpayer, too, but we were tapped with finding an answer to that question.”

If the study says a new store is justified, Waddell said the ABC board would repay the county its $25,000 with proceeds from liquor sales. “You’re the sole beneficiary of any revenues,” he said.

In voting no Monday, Hawkins reiterated his belief that a ballot referendum passed by voters last May was not a mandate to put in a sixth county package store. He said the referendum’s last question asked voters whether an ABC store “should be permitted. It didn’t say to make one.”

Commissioner Mike Edney, who couldn’t make the last meeting due to a job obligation, said he appreciated the “talent and brainpower” of the ABC board members.

“I also appreciate that you need expertise to answer some of these questions,” Edney said in supporting the supplementary budget.

In other business, the board called on the federal government to explain what additional costs to Emergency Medical Services the county should expect from full implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

By a 5-0 vote, commissioners approved a resolution that calls the impact of federal health care reform on EMS service “ambiguous” and defers any changes to county EMS until the federal government studies the “intended and unintended consequences” of the law.

Emergency Services Director Rocky Hyder said he and County Attorney Russ Burrell have had discussions with potential franchisees about providing non-emergency transports, such as ambulance runs between nursing homes and doctors’ offices. He said it wasn’t prudent for the county to consider adding franchises until the ACA issue is clearer.

The vote comes a month after commissioners asked legislators for a way around an Affordable Care Act requirement that Henderson County pay $89,200 in federally mandated “reinsurance fees” that begin next year.

In response, U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows wrote a letter March 29 to Kathleen Sibelius, secretary of the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, seeking a waiver for Henderson County government for all “unfunded mandates and unwarranted double taxation imposed” by the ACA.

U.S. Sen. Richard Burr also responded to the county’s resolution, writing Wyatt that he is co-sponsoring legislation to repeal “Obamacare entirely. If Congress cannot enact a straight repeal, then we must do what we can to defund the health care law.”

<p>Ten months after its formation, the Henderson County ABC Board finally got a budget Monday.</p><p>By a 4-1 vote, with Grady Hawkins dissenting, county commissioners approved transferring $25,000 from the county's fund balance into three budgetary line items: $12,000 for ABC Board member expenses, $3,000 for “departmental supplies” and $10,000 for “professional services.”</p><p>Of the latter, ABC Board members plan to pay consultant Martin-McGill of Asheville $9,000 to conduct a market study, looking at what unincorporated areas of the county have unmet demand for liquor sales and where might be the best location for a sixth package store.</p><p>ABC Board Chairman Beau Waddell said the study should be complete within 90 days.</p><p>“This budget should have been established when your board was put in place,” said Commissioner Larry Young. “And it wasn't, so we're going to give you a budget amendment to get you through this part of the year. The first of July starts a new budget, so maybe the new budget might be $50,000.Who knows? We've got to let y'all decide what budget you need in the future.”</p><p>Waddell said if the study comes back that no unincorporated area of the county will support a new ABC store, “I expect our budget come July 1 would be zero. And it should be. I'm a taxpayer, too, but we were tapped with finding an answer to that question.”</p><p>If the study says a new store is justified, Waddell said the ABC board would repay the county its $25,000 with proceeds from liquor sales. “You're the sole beneficiary of any revenues,” he said.</p><p>In voting no Monday, Hawkins reiterated his belief that a ballot referendum passed by voters last May was not a mandate to put in a sixth county package store. He said the referendum's last question asked voters whether an ABC store “should be permitted. It didn't say to make one.”</p><p>Commissioner Mike Edney, who couldn't make the last meeting due to a job obligation, said he appreciated the “talent and brainpower” of the ABC board members.</p><p>“I also appreciate that you need expertise to answer some of these questions,” Edney said in supporting the supplementary budget.</p><p>In other business, the board called on the federal government to explain what additional costs to Emergency Medical Services the county should expect from full implementation of the Affordable Care Act.</p><p>By a 5-0 vote, commissioners approved a resolution that calls the impact of federal health care reform on EMS service “ambiguous” and defers any changes to county EMS until the federal government studies the “intended and unintended consequences” of the law.</p><p>Emergency Services Director Rocky Hyder said he and County Attorney Russ Burrell have had discussions with potential franchisees about providing non-emergency transports, such as ambulance runs between nursing homes and doctors' offices. He said it wasn't prudent for the county to consider adding franchises until the ACA issue is clearer.</p><p>The vote comes a month after commissioners asked legislators for a way around an Affordable Care Act requirement that Henderson County pay $89,200 in federally mandated “reinsurance fees” that begin next year.</p><p>In response, U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows wrote a letter March 29 to Kathleen Sibelius, secretary of the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, seeking a waiver for Henderson County government for all “unfunded mandates and unwarranted double taxation imposed” by the ACA.</p><p>U.S. Sen. Richard Burr also responded to the county's resolution, writing Wyatt that he is co-sponsoring legislation to repeal “Obamacare entirely. If Congress cannot enact a straight repeal, then we must do what we can to defund the health care law.”</p><p>Reach Axtell at 828-694-7860 or than.axtell@blueridgenow.com</p>